Page 37 of Remy

“That was the plan. To kill everyone who took my daughter from me. But you didn’t take her. You didn’t hurt her,” I explain as she shakes her head.

“I would never hurt Charlie. Ever!”

“I see that. You took good care of her, and for that, I thank you. Now go pack a bag because you’re leavin’.” Hodge lowers his gun, and the woman stands, rushing up the stairs with a prospect behind her.

“You’re lettin’ her go?” Gunner asks.

“She took care of her. She didn’t hurt her,” I remind him. He nods his head, a smile on his face.

“Good for you, Remy. She’s beautiful.” He nods toward Charlie.

“She is. Let’s get her home, yeah?” Everyone agrees, and we file out of the house. I’m down the street and climbing in the van with her still in my arms. When I look down, I see that she’s fallen asleep. My heart swells. Tears prickle the back of my eyes, but I blink them away. She’s okay. She’s coming home with me and her mom where she belongs.

Chapter 22

Tianna

Pain. So much pain. I’ve never felt this kind of pain in my life aside from when Brad took Charlie away from me. She was three days old. I had her for three full days. I held her in my arms. I cradled her to my chest. She was perfect. She had the perfect little face, little hands, and fingers.

I can still remember the day she was born, as if it was yesterday. Brad was there. He was encouraging. He was holding my hand through it all. He kept telling me to push and that at the end of all this, I would have my daughter in my arms. And I did, for three whole days.

I don’t know what changed in him. I don’t know what made him rethink it all. All I know is on the third day he came home angry. He was in such a bad mood. He came up to the room and demanded I shower and be ready for him. I reminded him that I couldn’t have sex for six weeks after the baby was born. He didn’t want to hear that. He grabbed her out of my arms and walked away with her. I chased him; of course I did. I ran behind him, begging and pleading with him to give her back.

He put her in her car seat, and as much as I fought to get to her, he didn’t let me. He shoved me down, causing me to hit my head. I watched him take her straight out of the house and away from me.

I cried for days until there was nothing left in me to cry. I cried until I threw up. He didn’t care. He went on with his life as usual. It was weeks of not seeing her when he said I could. It killed me. I broke a piece of me that he’d done this.

After that, he gave me his rules. He told me how to act, how to smile, how to pretend everything was great between us and I went with it because of her. I would have done anything because of her.

Not long after, he started giving me the sleeping pills. At first, I didn’t have weird dreams or what I thought were dreams. At first, I just slept. About three weeks after starting them, the dreams started. They were always so vivid. I could see it all playing out, but there was nothing I could do but go along with it.

Now I know the truth. It wasn’t a dream. He let them rape me. He let those men, whoever they were, do what they wanted to me, and there was nothing I could have done to stop it. He threatened Charlie more than once. I remember an incident when he took me to see her. I wasn’t ready to leave her. I wasn’t ready to leave. I wasn’t ready to let her go. So I threw a fit. Like a child, I threw a fucking temper tantrum. He took her from me. Grabbed her right out of my arms, and he held his hand over her face. I froze. I knew he would do it. I knew he wouldn’t care either. I screamed until my lungs hurt. I saw her face turn red, and at that moment, I knew. I knew he would kill her and not think twice about it.

I begged and pleaded with him to stop. He finally pulled his hand away from her face after I promised to do whatever he wanted me to do. The woman quickly took Charlie and checked her over. I was so grateful for her in that moment. She wouldn’t hurt her. I could see the look in her eyes. She cared about Charlie.

I never looked at Brad the same after that, but I did follow his rules, though they were hard at times. I hated it. I hated everything about what I had to do in order to keep Charlie safe.Remy doesn’t know. I didn’t tell him and I might never tell him what Brad did that day. It still haunts me even now, even after almost two years.

I shake the pills into my hand and swallow them down with a big glass of water before laying down on the pillow. I can only think about Remy and Charlie. They’re all that matter to me. They’re all I needed in this life, but that’s not what I got. I got almost two years of hell. I got beaten, abused, used, and my daughter was taken away from me.

You never understand the pain until your child is taken from you. That’s a pain I never want to feel again. A pain that will sit heavily in my chest for the rest of my life.

And Remy? God, how I love Remy. There’s never been another man for me. There was never an option. He stole a piece of my heart when we met. It’s not what you would have expected, either. I smile at the memory.

I was at the store, and I walked out, bags ripping and groceries falling to the ground. I was angry, of course, but I also laughed. I had to find the positive, right? Well, Remy happened to be riding past at the time and saw me bent over with laughter. He pulled over and rushed off his bike, coming to my side. He asked me if I was okay, if I was in pain, but when I looked up, and he saw the laughter, confusion was written on his face. It was that look that made me fall right then and there.

He stared at me for a long second, not knowing what to say. When I finally got myself under control he helped me pick my stuff up and get it in the car. He asked me if I always laughed like that when something happened. We talked. And we talked and it was like everything in the world was right. I went home and putmy things away just to have him call as soon as I got there and ask me to meet him for dinner. It was crazy.

I did meet up with Remy that night. We had dinner and he took me for my first ride on his bike. It was amazing to feel the wind blowing around us. It was everything to me. It meant the world to me.

After that night, we were basically together all the time, aside from when the club needed something. He brought me to the club, and at first, it didn’t seem so bad. Then, one night, he went on a run and came back crazed. There was a look in his eye I couldn’t place. He wasn’t himself, and I knew it. That night is what changed everything. I was afraid, scared, and stupid because I knew deep down Remy wouldn’t do anything to hurt me. But I was young, and I didn’t think straight. I only wanted to see the bad in the club and not the good, so I left. I told him I couldn’t do it anymore.

Not long after, I met Brad, and he was different. He wasn’t like Remy, and maybe that’s what I was looking for at the time. But my heart never left Remy. It will always be his.

Even now, as my eyes slowly flutter closed, I know he’s my only love and always will be.

Chapter 23

Remy

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